James Sims quietly becoming one of KU’s best

Kansas running back James Sims blows past the Texas defense on a long run during the second quarter on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 at Memorial Stadium.

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Saturday’s career game from running back James Sims did nothing to change the all-too-familiar outcome for the 1-7 Kansas University football team.

Despite getting 176 yards from their top offensive weapon and leading visiting Texas for most of the second half, the Jayhawks dropped their seventh straight game and lost for the 17th time in a row in Big 12 play.

With numbers like those, bright spots can be tough to find. But it doesn’t take a microscope or a magnifying glass to pinpoint the best thing this improving Kansas football team has going for it.

He wears No. 29, carries the ball with a purpose on every play and, after Saturday, has topped the 100-yard mark in four straight games, vaulting him into the conversation about the Big 12’s best backs.

“I didn’t learn anything that I didn’t already know, that we haven’t already said,” KU coach Charlie Weis said Saturday. “Coming out of the spring, I said the same thing about Sims that I’m saying now, and I’ll say it again. I don’t know if there’s a better back in this league. If they exist, I have not seen them yet.”

Let’s go inside the numbers for a look at Sims’ special streak.

During his first game back from a suspension that forced him to miss the first three games of the season — and fueled his fire to run harder than ever — Sims ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries in a loss at Northern Illinois.

Those totals merely served as the appetizer for what was to come. In three of his next four games, including Saturday’s loss to UT, Sims carried the ball 28 times for an average of 131 yards. In the one game during that stretch in which he failed to log 28 carries, Sims ran 27 times for 138 yards in a 20-14 loss to Oklahoma State.

Sims owns single-game team-bests in rushing attempts (28), yards (176) and touchdowns (2) this season, and he also is responsible for the longest reception from scrimmage (51 yards vs. Oklahoma State) and the longest run from scrimmage (64 yards Saturday vs. Texas).

That 64-yarder Sims ripped off against the Longhorns was the longest run by a KU player since 2006, when former KU great and current Canadian Football League standout Jon Cornish delivered a 69-yard run in the season opener against Northwestern State.

Asked when he realized Sims could become this type of multi-purpose back in his offense, Weis reiterated something he had been saying since April.

“I’ve known it for quite some time,” Weis said.

Sims’ big day against UT pushed him over the 2,000-yard mark for his career, making him just the 11th Jayhawk to eclipse 2,000 yards. Considering the junior from Irving, Texas, has four games remaining this season and an entire senior year ahead of him, it seems fair to start looking ahead at his pursuit of the top spot on KU’s all-time rushing list. With 2,091 yards, Sims currently sits in 11th place, 148 yards behind Jake Sharp for 10th place.

In addition, Sims already ranks sixth all-time in rushing attempts (479) and tied for sixth all-time in career 100-yard games (nine).

KU’s all-time rushing leader is June Henley, who, from 1993-96, racked up 3,841 yards on 823 carries. Tony Sands (1988-91) ranks second with 3,788 yards, and Laverne Smith (1973-76) is the only other player above 3,000 yards at 3,074.

Sims still has a ways to go before he’s mentioned in that company, but his recent stretch and breakthrough season certainly seem to indicate that getting there is possible.

“I feel more confident now than I ever have,” Sims said Saturday. “I’ve been trusting my offensive line, and they have been doing great at doing their job. I have to give those guys credit. We are an offensive unit.”

Sims is a team-first player who would trade in his personal success for more wins for his team. That trait again was on display on Saturday, as Sims refused to smile while fielding questions about his big day and instead continued to talk about another frustrating step forward for his team.

“After this game, of course we are down,” he said. “But we see the progress as a program. That’s all that really matters at this time. We have to take it week by week, practice by practice and just continue to work as hard as we can.”

Reesing spoke to team

Weis said he invited former KU quarterback Todd Reesing to speak to the team before Saturday’s game against Reesing’s hometown Longhorns.

“He’s just proud,” Weis said. “He talked about his experience, he lives in Austin (Texas), and he was kind of counting on us winning the game so he could go back to Austin and talk a lot of trash and it just didn’t work out that way.”

No injury news

Weis said defensive end Toben Opurum and linebacker Jake Love missed Sunday’s practice, but added that he did not yet know their status for this week.

Opurum and Love were both injured on the same play late in the fourth quarter Saturday.

"...so don't get your hopes up" - What kind of fan are you? You do realize they almost beat a great OSU and UT program? Hope is a good thing. If they lose next 3/4 games, big deal. It's not like they were in contention for the NC. Jeez, maybe if "fans" such as yourself would stay off the board, maybe morale and confidence would be just a bit better.
Sims' confidence is really high. He senses that he can compete. If each player will work their game like Sims (O-line), that will translate into improvement, competitive drive, and maybe a winning season. Give them some time and watch them improve before you start dashing hopes. Good grief...

I would love to see Sims get the rushing record at KU. It will be tough unless we can find a bunch of solid replacements for the o-line. I was impressed with the way the team played on Saturday. Dad gummit, if we only could have held it together for another couple of minutes. With Baylors D, I like our chances of getting a big road win this weekend. Should be a high scoring affair.

I can't wait for the next game! This team is making the progress necessary to turn a program around, and while these seniors will not be around next year to personally see it translate into wins, they shouldn't doubt for a second they were a big reason this KU ship is heading in the right direction.

Sims is a future pro. But let's not overlook the fact that he's only given the opportunity to put up such large numbers because we have absolutely no passing game. If we had a good QB and a good WR, Sims wouldn't be getting his incredible number of carries and yards. Obviously it takes a special player to run it like he does, but he's in that position out of necessity. Here's to hoping that next year his numbers go down, meaning we'll be able to spread the ball out a bit more. Heaps to McCay!

What a ridiculous post. By having no passing game, our offense is faced with stacked defenses waiting for us to run the ball. If Sims were playing on a better KU team, with even the threat of a balanced attack - who knows what his numbers would be. The kid is a phenom and we are so lucky to have him. I just wish he could get enough support to get to a bowl game next season. Maybe with McCay, Heaps, & a new batch of recruits we can do that.

I agree. Even if we did have a good passing game, he would still get at the least 25 carries a game. For one, you don't have a good passing attack without a good running attack and, two, CW would never overlook the best player on the team in order to pass for 400 yds a game. Sorry Overseas, but my money says that Sims puts up these numbers with either Manning brother at the helm.

It's simple math guys. You only have a certain number of offensive plays in a game. When you throw the ball less than 10 times, you inevitably will run the ball more. Sims gets more carries than if we had any threat at QB and WR. I'm not knocking Sims at all. And I'm not saying Weis would choose to pass for 400 yards and overlook the best playmaker on the team. But some balance would be beneficial for everyone.

by having more of a wide open passing game you actually create more plays for the offense because the clock doesn't run as quickly. Also, by having more of a balanced offense you are created more total yards of offense in the game.

I agree with you that Sims shouldn't have to run the ball 30 times a game, but if we had a glimmer of a passing game then Sims' yards per carry would only go up because the defense would have to respect the pass more.

My guess is that Sims' carries may go down next year but his yards per game will continue to be better than 100, and barring injury he will end his KU career as no worse than 3rd all time with about a 40% shot (barring injury) at getting the all time KU rushing record, but if we make a bowl game next year and he plays every game, then the record is most likely his.

Alright, we're on the same page. I never meant to say I hope his yards per carry go down. I think, and hope, he'll continue to put up huge numbers. But the number of CARRIES has to go down. 30 carries a game for an entire season is opening oneself to injury. My original point is that I hope to see him not have to carry the ball so many times out of necessity. With a good passing game, the field will open up for Sims, and he'll be able to rush for 100+ yards every game but only need 20 or so carries to do so.

It is too bad that Sims was not available for the first three games. Imagine how different our season could have been. While everyone likes to say we are a few throws/catches from a dramatically different season, this article points out the obvious that perhaps we are a few big runs from one too. Sad that we will never know. On the other hand, I was excited by the game on Saturday. It is clear we are moving in the right direction! Keep up the good work and keep making good choices on and off the field! RCJH!

The 'bottom line' is that KU just needs to 'learn how to WIN' -- that sounds so basic, but it really isn't as we have a knack for literally 'pulling defeat out of the jaws of victory' (e.g., Rice, N.Ill., UT this year with both TCU and OSU very 'winnable' games). For this program to turn the corner (like K-State has done . . . 'twice' under Bill Snyder's tenure), it must indeed BELIEVE it can do it -- not just some 'slogan' that HCTG concocted, but really believe it deep down in their heart that it is true. I sat in the stands and saw the Jayhawks do just that one Saturday night in Lawrence against K-State where we went out and 'took it' from them, which really started the Hawks on a roll of confidence that took them to Bowl Games. There I was on Saturday thinking a win over UT could have the same catalytic effect, but we are just not ready yet. I hope we can finish the year strong against Baylor, TTech, ISU and W.Va. and begin to build that kind of confidence heading into next year -- as well as the 'recruiting season' this year.

I wasn't at the game on Saturday, but I felt the same thing. I was also at the K-State game in 2004 when we broke their long win streak and started the momentum that took us to the Fort Worth Bowl the following year, gained us bowl eligibility again the year after that and then culminated in the Orange Bowl and Insight Bowl seasons.

I had visions of fans storming the field and the team using the momentum to finish the season with a few more wins.

We're close, and we'll get there. The year after the Fort Worth Bowl the team went 6-6 I believe and didn't get a bowl invite, but that KU team had 4 games I think that KU lead late in the 4th quarter and were decided by late game KU meltdowns. I remember thinking that KU could have had 10 wins that year. The following year they went 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl.

Thank you plastic. I like your observation:
" I was also at the K-State game in 2004 when we broke their long win streak and started the momentum that took us to the Fort Worth Bowl the following year, gained us bowl eligibility again the year after that and then culminated in the Orange Bowl and Insight Bowl seasons.

Note what happened the first year with ksu and then look what happened the 'following (two) years.' It is about learning and improving. This NFL quality coaching staff must put together a good season in a short time.

plastic, that 2006 season was so ridiculously frustrating. We had OSU, TTU and I think Northwestern (maybe?) down and lost all of them. Seems like there was indeed a fourth team but I can't remember who. But in those losses I think a lot was learned that helped us avoid those meltdowns in 2007. Hoping for the same type of thing here.

There were two punts in the second half Saturday where I saw our guy giving a UT player the business while blocking, right up until the whistle, and then kinda get in the guy's face a bit. Not in a dirty or taunting way, but in a I'm-tired-of-losing-and-you're-gonna-have-to-earn-this kinda way. I loved that attitude and fire and I think people in my section thought I was crazy for getting all excited about it. That mental edge, that channeled aggression, is what we've been lacking. If we can use Saturday as a springboard we could see another win or maybe two (MAYBE) but it's that attitude we need to get back that we are pissed off about losing and we are going to do something to change it. I liked that, especially 8 games into a 1-7 season.

James Sims is much better than Marcus Lattimore. But if James had a season ending injury like Lattimore, he obviously would not get as much press. Just saying-Sims has played five games and has rushed for 622 yards, Lattimore played nine games and rushed for 662 yards. Sims is a stud. Best wishes to Lattimore, but he's not close to #29.

The Verbal Fans (VF) are still behind the curve. We were 116th before this season. We have made major improvements. We were bottom 5 and playing a top 5 schedule. We aren't going to a bowl. One and seven ain't what we all want but it is what it is. Wake up idiots and enjoy the ride. Charlie promised and produced. Dave Campo must be embarrassed with your response. We have a "team". These players should have our respect, they've earned it. Shame on you SOBs for seeking personal attention for being "edgy" and finding fault. Our program was bottom 120 and we backed it up with a 150 fan base. We are better than this,

I only watch KU football because Todd Reesing was awesome. I keep hoping for another couple years like that. So Campo has a great resume, but $500,000 for any coach on a team as bad as KU's is way too much. There's been three blowouts this year, and not expecting a pass on that last Texas td in the 4th quarter...c'mon man. This season sucks.

I like Crist. I really do. Mostly I'm getting excited about the future of KU football when I say this-- after reading the article I wonder what our record would be right now if Sims and Cummings had started the year.

So many possibilities have opened up for the Jayhawks and we should be a fun team to watch for years to come starting a couple days ago.

Just a week or two ago I commented that our defense was significantly better than last year and I was hit from every direction by people saying how crazy I was. Too many people have looked at the KSU and OU scores, and haven't really paid attention to the strides we're making. You take away the special teams TDs that OU scored, and the short field opportunities our offense left them with, and look at it objectively, and our defense wasn't even that bad against them. We quit the second half against KSU, I'll give the naysayers that, but lets also not forget KSU has hung 50+ on a bunch of teams this year.

As for Sims, best back in the conference. The second best back is Cox. I believe he would put up similar numbers if he got as many carries as Sims, perhaps even more. Like Sims he has great moves but can also lower his shoulder and run over people.

I really liked Pierson more in the slot like Gill used him last year (though Gill didn't use him nearly enough.) When we get Pierson one on one in space look out. He's done a good job in the backfield, no question about that, but I don't think he's quite as versitile in terms of being able to run both inside and outside. He's definitely better when he can get outside and turn the corner. But, for sure, we're as deep at running back as we've been in all the years I've followed KU football even back to the Laverne Smith when we had a couple of great backs (I can't recall his stable mate right now, maybe Robert Miller?) I'm sure someone can help me with that. Bourbon is no slouch either. I think any of those 4 would have been big contributors on our competitive Mangino teams, and any of the 4 possibly could have started on those teams. We had good backs on those teams, but not like these guys. Imagine the numbers they could put up if we had a passing game to keep defenses honest.

We all need to remember that. Doubters will cling to the record. Doubters will claim KU's defense has not improved because of the final drive against Texas. They'll reference blowouts by KSU and OU to prove the competetiveness we'd hoped for still doesn't exist.

In other words, doubters will use any and all excuses to label this team as pathetic, and KU as a "one-trick pony."

But if you had the guts to watch the game on Saturday, you saw the truth. This team is better. They're better mentally, fundamentally, and physically.

This team is headed in the right direction and is better than last year's team. That said, I do still wonder how well this team can compete away from home. I don't believe yet that this team is incapable of competing away from Lawrence, but if they go out and get blown out by Baylor, who is also winless in Big 12 play this year, then I think there is validity to KU being a one trick pony in terms of only being able to play well at home. With KSU and OU being the two Big 12 road games for KU so far this year, it's tough to really know how competitive this team is on the road in Big 12 play. I guess I'm taking a wait and see approach before truly judging this team on the road because this is a very winnable game for KU, but if they go out and lay an egg, then I will feel very comfortable in saying that this team is only good at home for the time being.

That's why I think this game is a better barometer of where this team is at in terms of being able to compete away from Lawrence than basing it off of playing the two teams sitting 1st and 2nd in the conference right now on the road. If KU can't compete with the other winless team in the conference in their house, then this team probably isn't quite as far along as we would like them to be. If KU does go out there and play Baylor close or even win, then I think that more confirms that this team is close to being competitive with 2/3 of the league and a 4-5 win conference season or better shouldn't be too far away.

Weis and the coaching staff has gotten this team better than the past couple years...no question.

But I would like to note that Weis and the offensive coordinator once again failed to manage the clock effecitvely at the end of the game vs Texas. We could have easily burnt another minute or so off the clock at the end of the game. Texas should have gotten the ball with around 1:00-1:30 on the clock as opposed to 2:30. Everyone in that stadium knew that we left them way too much time..and I blame that directly on coaching. Hes done this several times this year, and personally I think it cost us the TCU game.

I was watching the clock, and many (if not most) of our snaps came with 10 seconds or more left on the play clock. I can't argue with rockchalker5 in that regard.

I do wonder if being head coach and offensive coordinator means he's spending too much time thinking of the next play and then misses out on little things like time management. He should probably put an assistant in charge of time management, and have that person focus on nothing else late in games, and that person should be standing right by Weis making suggestions in regard to time management.

We have an unproven quarterback, and offensive coordinator duties by Weis takes that into consideration.

He has made every adjustment he can. Our passing game was abyssmal when we tried it. He has seasoned offensive linemen and a great stable of running backs. In my opinion, he's made the only adjustments he can. Clock managment really wasn't the issue. Incompency in the passing game is our biggest problem this year.

The man put us in position to win the game. I was upset about only attempting four passes the entire game, but I have to admit that his plan worked.

If you're going to throw out our entire offensive strategy on Saturday because of three plays that resulted in a field goal, I suggest you revisit your understanding of the game.

Reuben, I like and agree with a lot of what you post, and although the loss stings like hell, I'm incredibly proud and excited that the team not only hasn't given up, but they seem to have a little chip on their shoulder now.

However, the clock/timeout management on offense and defense was ridiculous. Just because we had an 8 minute drive up to the FG doesn't mean we couldn't have had a 9 minute drive. We mismanaged the clock at the end. There is NO REASON we should have snapped the ball with more than 2 seconds on the play clock on first or second down (and we did so with 12-15 seconds both times; I'm still hoarse from screaming for them to slow down). Then, while Weis didn't trust Cummings at all through the second half, he wants him to make a big throw on 3rd and 5? Really? Seems like flawed logic. I would have loved to have seen a few more throws in the second half to just threaten UT a little and I like Cummings, but you run the ball on third (and maybe even get the first with that power sweep Matthews was running) and run the clock or force UT's last timeout.

Then, on third and 2 with over a minute left, we sit on two timeouts. Simply inexcusable. Time was no longer the controlling factor for UT; they were gonna score or they weren't. We might as well have taken every advantage we could have. That is disheartening and scary, actually. Overall, the game plan was good; we used our strength and exploited their weakness....running and run defense respectively. But you CAN'T run 35 straight offensive plays without a pass and not expect 8 in the box.

Good analysis. I agree. Especially about defenses stacking the box. And maybe we shouldn't have thrown it on 3rd and 5 in the redzone. I'm thinking it was more of a designed rollout/option pass, but still shouldn't have put it on his shoulders. We played for the field goal, and we got it, but unfortunately, we were playing for the field goal

We have to find a way to put it in the air occasionally, or we're going to hang our running backs out to dry.

When you're the team that's been beaten down so badly for so long, it's the little things that you need to focus on because they can make all the difference. Would we have won the game doing the things I (and others) have pointed out? We will never know. But I can guarantee you that Snyder would have been on top of the clock/timeout situation. Point being, teams that play hard AND smart seem to have a lot of success.

And I loved the running game. It felt awesome to see Sims drop nearly 200 yards on Texas. But even a running team needs to throw occasionally to keep the linebackers honest.

I don't mind playing for the FG there. I normally don't like trusting kickers, especially with how things have gone this year, but in that situation the clock is more important, and when you've got basically a chip shot, you don't take big chances. All in all, we are getting there slowly but surely. Just hoping we can get at least one more win for some more tangible proof heading into next season.

I had no problem with his gameplan, our passing game stinks, and our running game is very solid. That is obvious. Just saying that clock mgmt has been a problem. There is NO reason to be in a hurry at that point in the game. And I'm not talking about 3 plays, it was more like 8 or 9. Snapping the ball with 17 seconds on the play clock with 3-4 mins left in a tie game is just not smart. I think most with an "understanding" of the game would agree. Reminds me of the way Romeo Crennel handles the clock.

Not much left to offer here, but I will say this concerning the game clock. I had two conversations with my son at the game about this topic. One was earlier in the fourth quarter, and his response was, "Yeah dad, but I like the speed and flow of the offens right now..." I had to agree with him. The other was later in the fourth quarter and maybe even just later in the last drive itself. We were leaving, 9, 12, and even more on the play clock, and I said again, we need to burn more clock! We definitely could have burned at least 45 to 60 seconds more clock. Texas scored with 12 seconds to go. Granted, it may have not mattered as circumstances are always different and hindsight is always 20/20. All that said, we needed a fourth down and 6 to finish it for good, or a third and goal stop to force a field goal and OT and who knows........

This team is getting better week in and week out. That's what matters at the moment. Rock Chalk!

You can blame Weis for not making Cummings use more clock on that last drive, but at the same time, KU had 2 very good chances to end the game and didn't make enough plays. Greg Brown dropped an INT that was thrown right to him and he couldn't hang on to it. KU also couldn't stop UT on that 4th and 6. If KU makes either play, it's game over and the clock is a non-issue. Making the plays late to finish off games is something this team still hasn't learned to do and until then, we will see more games like this and the OSU game where KU is just a couple of plays away from winning but ultimately comes up short. This team is very close to that point though and I do think we'll see one or possibly two wins left this year for this team.

I don't disagree at all. Losing teams find ways to lose, and right now we are a losing team. The dropped INT should have been almost automatic. The fourth down....well, it's probably about a 50/50 proposition.

My point is, anything you can do to avoid putting yourself in those situations, you should do. Maybe it would have changed the outcome Saturday and maybe it wouldn't have. But SOME day, it will. And we need to have coaches who understand clock and timeout management and do it right when it comes to that.

Enough on the clock management already. Great job by KU team and coaching staff. KU was in position to make plays to stop Texas' game winning drive. They didn't make the plays. Would have still won the game if Bradley MacDougald hadn't botched punt returns all day long. Despite all those dubious special teams efforts... this team is notably improved. Over next year or two... we should see an influx of improved talent. It is this belief and expectation... that we have me watching with vested interest each and every game. For those of us who have been watching losing KU football for 25 years... we can be patient with Charlie Weis and not expect miracles in Year #1.